Weekly Roundup – Feb 15, 2019

The CloserIQ Weekly Roundup features a list of the best content we’ve been reading recently. We’ve compiled some of our favorite reads to help you advance in your sales career and build top sales teams.

Featured Article

The enterprise sales process is a grind, rife with opportunities for a deal to fall through. When the sales cycle is six months or more and requires sign-off from multiple stakeholders, getting to that final contract can seem tough.

Yet it is possible to navigate enterprise sales successfully. Though every sales process is going to be unique, the key is to understand and follow these best practices for every stage in the process: Read more >

“If your skills need upgrading so that you’re more competitive in the job market, there are many ways you can add to your skill set. There are short-term certificate programs that you can take online. If you’re looking for a career shift, there are certification programs that lead to high-paying jobs.”

Selling Strategies

“It was common for sales reps in the past to actively try to accelerate deals to close as quickly as possible. Of course you still want to make every effort to keep them moving through the funnel, but not at the expense of customer satisfaction.”

Hiring + Recruiting

“The best predictor of future performance is past performance. It’s much better than using hypothetical scenarios. Past behavior is based on the truth of what’s already happened, and by extension, what is likely to continue to happen.”

“As you evaluate your current hiring process and where you’re looking to go as an organization, ask yourself, “Have we truly considered and prioritized making hires that are a fit for our company or just a fit for the position?””

Managing Teams

“A competitive advantage in this context is a new way that your sales team can find to close more deals. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but most sales teams don’t even try it. A good place to start is always with partnerships.”

“The sales process is never a set it and forget it. You need to constantly validate that it is working to reduce the time it takes to close a deal and assess gaps in the process. It is important to get direct feedback from your reps on where they are facing challenges in the sales process.”

“This means that sometimes companies with a wonderful team, a fantastic product, and a great market can’t even get a meeting, while other companies with a good team, an average product, and an unproven market can raise millions of dollars.”

“If you look one layer deeper at what has happened in the Venture Capital industry the funding increases have gone overwhelmingly to “mega rounds” of late stage investments with round sizes of $100 million or more.“

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